WEST LAFAYETTE – So who is Joey Elliott and can he really unseat Curtis Painter as Purdue’s starting quarterback the rest of the season?

First, understand that Painter is still the starter. Coach Joe Tiller made that clear minutes after Saturday’s 20-6 loss to No. 6 Penn State. Painter will start Saturday at No. 12 Ohio State because he gives the Boilers the best chance to win.

Painter, after all, ranks second to Drew Brees in Purdue history in passing yardage. He ranks among the best in every significant school career passing category. Before the season the school launched a mini-Heisman Trophy candidate campaign with Painter.

Of course, when after five games you’ve thrown five touchdown passes and five interceptions, as Painter has done for the 2-3 Boilers, that kind of campaign has a way of disappearing.

And so it has.

Still, if Purdue is to earn a bowl bid in Tiller’s final season, something has to change. As Bob Knight so famously said so many times, the best way to send a message to a player’s brain is through his, well, rump. In other words, bench him.

So Painter got to watch Elliott direct a fourth-quarter touchdown drive – showing poise and patience in the process – to suggest Painter might watch more if he doesn’t improve his play.

So who is Elliott?

He’s a former Evansville Harrison standout who redshirted his first season then spent the next two years as a little-used backup. His career numbers before Saturday were 19-for-34 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Elliott hadn’t played since a brief mop-up role in the season-opening win over Northern Colorado. He hadn’t thrown a pass all season. Against Penn State he was 3-for-5 for 46 yards. He completed a third-down pass for six yards and a fourth-down pass for 19 yards to keep the TD drive alive.

Elliott said he was told by a manager he might play the possession before he went in. When Painter threw an interception at the end of the third quarter, Tiller decided it was time for a change.

As it happened, some of those plays involved Elliott runs in the vicinity of Penn State linebackers Tyrell Sakes (6-2, 238), Josh Hull (6-2, 239) and Navorro Bowman (6-1, 228).

“Coach Z (offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher) wanted to introduce me to the Penn State linebackers so he called that lead draw,” Elliott said in jest.

“I just tried not to mess up and score points in a hurry.”

Painter said the benching didn’t shake his confidence.

“I will attack (this) week like I did (last) week. Things need to get better.

“Joey did a good job. He was able to get a score. I wasn’t able to do that.”

While Painter kept his job, junior kicker Chris Summers lost his.

That’s the consequence of missing two field goals and an extra point, and extends his season-long inconsistency. He is 5-for-10 on field goals this season after going 18-for-22 last season after going 9-for-20 as a freshman.

Tiller said freshman Carson Wiggs will take over the kicking duties. Summers will still punt.

“Wiggs is a strong-legged young guy,” Tiller said. “We’ll give him a chance.

“(Summers) has had more misses in practice, too. What you want a guy to do is kick his way out of it. We would like for him to have had some success. Place kicking is as much about mental as it is physical.

“I haven’t talked to him about that because he is an upperclassman. It’s not like you’re talking to a first-year kicker.”

Finally, Penn State defensive end Josh Gaines got his own Will Call window at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday. The former Northrop standout had 95 ticket requests. As a team, Penn State had 280 tickets.

Gaines finished with two tackles, including half a sack.